Gareth Southgate has spoken of his delight at seeing Will Hughes back in action for Derby County over the last few weeks.
The midfielder, who has been a regular in Southgate’s England Under-21s squad over the last three years, suffered a serious knee injury in Derby’s first game of the season last August.
But the 21-year-old is back to full fitness after eight months on the sidelines as the Rams prepare to face Hull City in this week’s Championship play-off semi-final.
Hughes in action against Charlton Athletic following his return in April
His involvement at the iPro Stadium on Saturday and then the KC stadium next Tuesday means Southgate wasn’t able to select him for this month’s Toulon Tournament – a trip he missed out on two years ago due to Derby’s previous play-off bid.
But the Three Lions head coach is just happy to see Hughes back on the pitch and performing again as his hometown club aim for a top flight spot.
"I’m really pleased for him, he’s a super player and a lad that we’ve really enjoyed working with," revealed Southgate, who named a 20-man group for Toulon earlier this week.
"But the most important thing is his wellbeing and it’s great to see him back and getting some matches, a bigger challenge and having to perform under pressure, which is great for him.
"Hopefully, he comes through all of that and he seems to have started very well from the games that I have seen and he’s picked up the pace really quickly."
Hughes wasn’t the only player from Southgate’s squad to suffer a bad injury this campaign, with Liverpool defender Joe Gomez and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Solly March also missing large chunks of the season.
And with the U21s next in action after Toulon when the new season starts in September, Southgate is hoping to see all of them back fit and challenging for a spot in his squad.
"We’ve also got Joe Gomez who we are hoping will be fit again by the start of next season and the same with Solly March, who suffered a similar injury," he revealed.
"We have players emerging all of the time and breaking into first teams, so we want competition for places as it’s healthy for the group and nobody can take their place in the squad for granted."
